


The Reason

by skinscript (Infie)



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Episode Tag, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-16
Updated: 2014-01-16
Packaged: 2018-01-08 22:17:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1138046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Infie/pseuds/skinscript
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rodney has a very serious chat with newborn Torren</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Reason

Rodney held Torren cradled in the crook of his arm, bouncing lightly to help keep him soothed as Teyla slept heavily in the infirmary bed beside him. It was like holding a bundle of tightly wadded cloth in his arm, the baby's weight negligible. He was half-worried that he would start thinking through some problem or another and forget entirely that he was holding him at all. Then he would drop him and Teyla would wake up and he would be in so much trouble. His arms tightened convulsively. 

Yeah, that would be bad. 

He glanced over at John, still sleeping off the anaesthesia in the other bed. John looked better than he had since he came through the wormhole at a run, dusty and hot and looking like hell. Over the time between coming back to them and the collapse of the building his face had gotten more and more deeply lined with stress and banked urgency, and afterwards... 

Well. 

Afterwards he'd looked like walking death. 

But now, his colour was back, all of his scrapes and bruises had been cleaned up, and with his hair even messier than usual and his lashes dark fans against his cheekbones he seemed only a few years older than Torren. Rodney looked down at the baby's tiny face and rosebud mouth, working restlessly. A gentle nudge against his hip brought his attention to the bed beside him, where Teyla was awake. 

"John told me that he was lost in time, and that you worked out a way to bring him back," Teyla said sleepily. "He said that you saved him." Her lids drifted closed again. 

"It was my turn," Rodney told her quietly. A slow smile graced her lips, and she was asleep again. Rodney turned back to Torren, lifting a finger to feel again the incredible softness of his newborn skin. "Do you want to know a secret?" He asked the baby seriously, his voice a whisper. "I didn't do it for him, or for your mom." He pressed a kiss to the silky fuzz of Torrin's tiny eyebrow. "Really, I did it for you." 

-30-


End file.
